BOSTON - One of the many reasons the Boston Celtics drafted Marcus Smart was because of his defensive talent.

Apparently his rookie brethren feel the same way, as Smart tied for first place as the best defender in voting in the league's Rookie survey.

Smart tied with Philadelphia's K.J. McDaniels while garnering 13.5 percent of the votes from among the 38 rookie voters.

He was also named the second-funniest behind Philadelphia's Joel Embiid who is the run-away leader for social media rookie of the year.

In addition, he was named third-best playmaker behind Phoenix's Tyler Ennis and San Antonio's Kyle Anderson.

As for Boston's other rookie James Young, he was tied for fifth as the "most overlooked" rookie.

A. Sherrod Blakely is a veteran NBA journalist having covered the Boston Celtics since 2009 and the Detroit Pistons for Booth News Services and MLive.com from 2000 to 2009. Blakely serves as Comcast SportsNet's Celtics Insider for CSNNE.com and Chevrolet SportsNet Central. Blakely is a graduate of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Journalism.